OBAMA SIGNALS HE'D KEEP CUTS TO AVOID SHUTDOWN

WASHINGTON The federal government will start cutting spending as early as today, with President Barack Obama and congressional leaders unable to bridge their fundamental disagreement over spending and taxes.

A few hours before the midnight deadline Friday, Obama signed an order authorizing the government to begin cutting $85 billion from federal accounts.

Obama and congressional leaders emerged from a White House meeting on Friday without resolution to the budget impasse, meaning that the across-the-board spending cuts that take effect Friday could remain in place for weeks if not months.

Speaking to reporters after the hourlong meeting, Obama called the cuts “just dumb,” and criticized Republicans for refusing to negotiate a deal that includes new revenue to balance the cuts.

“The only thing we've seen from Republicans so far in terms of proposals is to replace this set of arbitrary cuts with even worse arbitrary cuts,” Obama said.

The president also signaled that he wants to avoid a clash with Congress that could shut down the government at the end of March even if it means allowing across-the-board cuts to remain in place for months, saying that the cuts will not amount to an “apocalypse.” “The pain, though, will be real,” he said.

Obama's comments came as Republican leaders made clear they had no intention of budging on the president's demands that the across-the-board cuts be replaced with what he calls a “balanced” package of spending cuts and tax increases.

Speaker John Boehner emerged from the meeting after about an hour to indicate that little progress had been made toward bridging the differences between Republicans and the president.

“Let's make it clear, the president got his tax hike on Jan. 1,” Boehner told reporters. “The discussion about revenue, in my view, is over. It's about taking on the spending problem here in Washington.”

The president said he disagreed with that position and hoped that Republicans in Congress “come to their senses” in the weeks or even months ahead. But he seemed resigned that the cuts would stay in place.

He said he hoped Republicans would change their minds but he admitted: “It may take a couple of weeks. It may take a couple of months.”

And the president appeared ready to move beyond the repeated fiscal debates in the last few years to the broader agenda he spelled out in his State of the Union speech, including gun control measures, pre-school, a higher minimum wage, an immigration overhaul and changes to the nation's system of voting.

The meeting between the president and the four lawmakers – Boehner; Sen. Harry Reid, the majority leader; Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California, the Democratic leader; and Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky – was the first time since the end of last year that the group has gathered for a direct discussion about their differences.

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